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Battle of St. Quentin (1914)

Battle of Guise
Part of the Great Retreat on the Western Front during World War I
Cinquième armée.jpg
Monument to the French 5th Army at Guise.
Date 29–30 August 1914
Location Guise, France
49°54′03″N 3°37′42″E / 49.90083°N 3.62833°E / 49.90083; 3.62833Coordinates: 49°54′03″N 3°37′42″E / 49.90083°N 3.62833°E / 49.90083; 3.62833
Result Tactical French victory; German advance is stopped by French counter-attack
Belligerents
France France  German Empire
Commanders and leaders
France Charles Lanrezac German Empire Karl von Bülow
Strength
Fifth Army 2nd Army
Casualties and losses
10,000 casualties
2,000 captured
7,000 casualties

The Battle of St. Quentin (also called the First Battle of Guise (French: 1ere Bataille de Guise) was fought during World War I.

On the night of 26 August 1914, the Allies withdrew from Le Cateau to St. Quentin.

With retreat all along the line, the commander-in-chief of the French forces, Joseph Joffre, needed the Fifth Army under Charles Lanrezac to hold off the German advance through counterattacking, despite a 4-mile (6.4 km) separation from the French Fourth Army on the right flank, and the continual retreat of the BEF on the left flank. The movement of the Fifth Army took most of 28 August, turning from facing north to facing west against St. Quentin.

On 29 August the French Fifth Army attacked St. Quentin with their full force. Due to the capture of orders from a French officer, Bülow was already aware of the counter-offensive, and had time to prepare. The attacks against the town by the XVIII corps met with heavy casualties and little success, but X and III corps on the right were rallied by the commander of I corps, Louis Franchet d'Esperey. Advances on the right were made successfully against Guise, and forced the Germans, including Bülow's elite units of the Guards Corps, to fall back.

That night, Joffre issued orders for Lanrezac to resume his retreat and destroy the bridges to the Oise as he fell back. The orders did not reach the Fifth Army until the morning of 30 August, and the retreat began several hours late. However, the move went unchallenged by the German Second Army, which neither attacked nor pursued.


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